Fallen Riders

It’s been 7 years since my life was changed drastically by a motorcycle catastrophe.  I hold back from saying “accident” since it wasn’t an accident, it was someone running a red light at 50 MPH with a F250 pickup truck during my green left-turn arrow.  The fact that I exist is a walking miracle in my eyes, and I have undieing thanks to everyone that helped me pull myself back into working status.  Going through that made me realize the amount of support for our fellow riders is ridiculously low.  Churches help a little, and government organizations give a token effort at best.  Friends & family don’t usually have the resources to support that large of a burden for any longer than a month or two.  Today I ran across a foundation that is dedicated to this idea, to help our brothers who have that struggle.

http://fallenridersfoundation.net

From their front page:

“We are a 501(C)3 nonprofit corporation certified as a public charity by the lRS.  We have one purpose and
one purpose only.  To be there to help the families of riders who are injured or killed while on their bike.  We don’t care if you are a club member or an independent.  If you go down, and your family needs help, that’s where we come in.”

There is a myriad of obstacles that need to be planned for that most sane people would never even think about.  Their page helps bring some of these things to light.  It’s a macabre thing to dwell on, but hey… do it while you have two legs to stand on, and the luxury of no clock ticking away.

Too many times people dismiss a motorcycle catastrophe as something the rider had coming to them.  The stigma of “crazy motorcycle riders” due to the percentage of people who ride aggressively/uncontrollably make every rider the “silent majority”.  When I was in my hospitalization/rehabilitation, I had the same thing said to me several times… along the lines of “I guess we know who learned their lesson and will use a car now” or “people on the road are out to hurt you, you need metal around you”.  While it’s understandable that people who are accustomed to driving a 4-wheeled vehicle with doors will consider it safer or the “right” thing to do, it’s simply a passive-aggressive fatalistic mindset.  NEVER let them drag you down mentally, you are never wrong simply because you drive a different vehicle.  After all, it is the responsibility of everyone to check their own surroundings before doing anything.  It’s never your responsibility to make sure someone else doesn’t do something to hurt you.